Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted September 29, 2021 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted September 29, 2021 This video is from last night. In the future it might be available on YouTube. You could try searching for: A Current Affair Aussie families and doctors issue painkiller addiction warning. If it does become available on YouTube then the transcript of the video will probably be available and could be copied and pasted in this topic. https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/painkiller-lyrica-accused-of-being-addictive-dangerous-tearing-families-apart/cec6d9a7-6256-4c2a-9ad0-e5c8f29f4d60 I am posting the following from the website in case in the future it is no longer available: Aussie families and doctors issue painkiller addiction warning By Dimity Clancey A cheap painkiller prescribed to millions of Australians each year is "like Santa Claus in a pill," according to Sydney psychiatrist Dr Tanveer Ahmed. He said the drug Lyrica has "become all things to all people," leaving increasing numbers of patients addicted. "One of the reasons it has become dangerous is because it has become all things to all people, it is being dished out like lollies," Dr Ahmed told A Current Affair. He said it's much easier for GPs to prescribe Lyrica than other painkillers like codeine, which are heavily regulated to prevent addiction. "There really is very little restriction, you can go and get a repeat at a pharmacy without question, you can go to doctors and there is very little monitoring," he said. Finance broker Christalla Andreadis started taking Lyrica after suffering severe spinal injuries in a car accident in 2017, and now she's struggling to stop. "Now everyone is going to know my dirty little secret," she said. "I can't go on like this, you suffer in silence and when you're thinking, 'I can't do this anymore', I don't want to grow old like this." The 52-year-old was embarrassed to admit she was outsmarted by a simple painkiller. "This drug gets its claws into your soul. It has taken every fibre of my being, is what it has taken me to try and come off it," Ms Andreadis said. In the past two years Ms Andreadis has managed to reduce the dosage, but she can't quit cold turkey. Gayle Wilson's daughter Anita died after taking a deadly combination of Lyrica and opioids. "I feel as though I failed her. I couldn't find anything else to do, to keep her alive," Gayle said. Anita's death at 33-years-old followed years of addiction to pain medication, which started after she had her wisdom teeth out in 2017. Lyrica, also known as pregabalin, was originally prescribed to treat epilepsy and nerve pain. Manufactured by Pfizer, it was added to Australia's pharmaceutical benefits scheme in 2013. Pfizer launched a marketing blitz, investing $3.8 million into almost 500 education events to teach Aussie GPs about the drug. Pregabalin scripts skyrocketed from 36,000 a year in 2012 to more than four million by 2018. In America, Pfizer was prosecuted over its marketing of Lyrica. "They agreed to pay $2.3 billion for a healthcare fraud settlement, they were illegally marketing four different drugs and Lyrica fell under that umbrella," Amy Kawaa explained. Ms Kawwa started a support group for patients who beat an addiction to Lyrica. When A Current Affair approached Pfizer, we initially received a one sentence response, saying Pfizer no longer owns Lyrica. Pfizer directed the program's questions to a company called Viatris, which was created late last year when a division of Pfizer merged with another pharmaceutical firm. Despite Pfizer trying to distance itself from Lyrica, its branding is still plastered all over the box and even the pills. Pharmacist Said Khodary said the number of Lyrica scripts he has filled has more than doubled in the past three years. "Anyone on a healthcare card, pension card, can pick it up for $6," Mr Khodary said. He's well-seasoned at spotting doctor shoppers. "They try to come up with lots of excuses, sometimes they're sweating, they're nervous, they're a bit anxious sometimes," he said. Victoria is the only state which has mandatory monitoring for Lyrica prescriptions. "There is no way for us to really monitor if they're getting prescriptions elsewhere. It would really help a lot," Mr Khodary explained. © 2021 Nine Digital Pty Ltd * NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA * MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: (6 year taper) 0mg Pristiq on 13th November 2021 ADs since ~1992: 25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq: 50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity) Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021 LAST DOSE 0.0025mg Post 0 updates start here My tapering program My Intro (goes to tapering graph) VIDEO: Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted October 3, 2021 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted October 3, 2021 The video has now been posted on Youtube here: Painkiller addiction warning | A Current Affair Approximately 11 minutes long Here is the transcript copied from the above video: Quote it can be highly addictive and it's taken by millions a painkiller that's readily prescribed by doctors around the country but as you're about to see in our investigation there's a sinister side to this drug i feel as though i failed my daughter this is a very dangerous drug it's a very dangerous drug this drug lyrica is like santa claus in a pill if i knew then what i know now i never ever would have taken this drug when we experience pain we often look for a quick fix pill to try and take it away most recently for many australians that pill has been lyrica for patients it's cheap it's accessible and millions of scripts are written every year it's been a blockbuster drug for pfizer who's made hundreds of millions of dollars from aussies using the painkiller now everyone's gonna know my dirty little secret it's taken great courage for christala and reedus to share her story i can't go on like this sorry [Music] [Applause] so you suffer in silence and when you're thinking on a day i can't do this anymore i don't want to grow old like this cristala suffered severe spinal injuries in a car accident in 2017 she was prescribed lyrica to manage her chronic pain i trusted the doctors i trusted what they said to me now the 52 year old wishes she'd never taken that first pill a finance broker chris is embarrassed to admit she was outsmarted by a simple painkiller you take it at first and you don't really notice very many differences and you go back to the doctor so i'm still in pain i'm still not feeling well i've still got nerve pain i said well up the dosage and you up up up up and before you knew it i was taking 450 milligrams a day and that's when this drug gets its claws into your soul it's taken her two years just to reduce the dosage but chris still can't go cold turkey it is taken every ounce every fibre of my being to try and come off it gail wilson's 33 year old daughter anita was full of fun [Music] in 2017 after getting her wisdom teeth out anita was prescribed strong painkillers and she would then say i have got period pain i'll go to and get some panadeine fort i'll get more enzone and she doctor shopped in no time anita's life became one big sedation she would take a deadly combination of opioids and lyrica he gave her exactly what she wanted because of her addiction as many tablets as she could possibly get and he gave it to her feeling helpless gail started to record anita she hoped it would shock some sense into her lyrical one at one stage was 350 milligrams four times a day so i thought i'll ring up and make an appointment to see doctor and when i went in i said i'm here about my daughter your patient and i said she's asleep all the time and i said it and he said well she's going she's going to die if she keeps doing that and i said i realize that but what can you do no one could save anita she overdosed last year i feel as though i failed her i i couldn't find anything else to do to keep her alive lyrica also known as progabalin was originally prescribed to treat epilepsy and nerve pain manufactured by pfizer it was added to australia's pharmaceutical benefits scheme in 2013. right away pfizer launched a marketing blitz 3.8 million dollars was thrown into almost 500 education events to teach aussie gps about the drug that investment paid dividends pregabalin scripts skyrocketed from 36 000 a year in 2012 to more than 4 million by 2018 and research tells us 50 of those prescriptions are now handed out for much more than nerve pain you're in so much pain i nearly ended up in hospital i started to forget things these people have all had a battle with lyrica over the years my brain just went too much i did want to end my life coming off it um and geez that's a bit touchy to talk about um many feel like they were dismissed when they asked for help if the addiction gets worse today psychiatrist dr tanveer ahmed is here to listen i'm seeing more patients who talk of the suicidal thoughts and some studies have also shown that what warnings come with this drug vicky there was absolutely no warning about any potential side effects um and i wasn't made aware of any potential side effects everyone can have a look at rhiannon is 27. she's addicted to lyrica i have lost six to seven years of my life on this drug and it's stolen my life i've never i've never been the same i can't get off here eliza says her lyrical pain started when she was 18. then all of a sudden my mental health went downhill it just made my mind dark and it was a horrible horrible feeling it sucks the life out of you it does it really does the day isn't bad the not wanting to breathe the fact that all joy is sucked out of you but you keep going because you've got a family to look after but i think that's the other thing is it doesn't discriminate you know you guys are just normal everyday working people completely debilitated by this like my doctor actually said that your withdrawals are what a heroin addict will go through you're experiencing exactly what a heroin addict definitely and the withdrawals are freaking horrendous they're sweating the i can't talk properly i'm sitting here with my mother and i can't even have a conversation with her well rhianna and you just gave a absolutely perfect description of the drug's addictive potential but you also described how it gets worse i guess an answer to the pain management rhiannon is you need what's called a multi-disciplinary team and that needs to be appropriately resourced by authorities i guess it's that that that holistic you know team support is that readily available for the people who are out there well rhiannon's been referred and she's waiting so often it's really hard to access particularly in outer metropolitan and regional areas and that's actually where we see the worst uh problems with drugs like lyrica they would all agree getting proper help is expensive yeah i actually had to stop seeing my psychologist because i couldn't afford it anymore you can't get public help you've got to go private what's happened in australia is other types of pain and medication have been restricted and arguably for some good reasons like codeine opiates and i think that's why lyrica has taken the space pfizer was part of a lie amy started the lyrica survivor group she explains in the us pfizer has been prosecuted over its marketing of lyrica pfizer has paid some of the largest fines in the industry they agreed to pay 2.3 billion for health care fraud settlement they were illegally marketing four different drugs and lyrica fell under that umbrella one criminal count stemming from the improper promotion and is it is it a case that these big pharma companies go we'll cop the fine because what we make of it make from it is worth it i would say that's very accurate and i could see that um indicative of the numbers that you just quoted in australia i mean the amount of prescriptions has exploded when we approached pfizer we received a one sentence response saying it no longer owned lyrica we were directed to a company called beatrice it was created late last year when a division of pfizer merged with another pharmaceutical firm despite pfizer trying to distance itself from lyrica its branding is still plastered all over the box and even the pills [Music] save kadari is a pharmacist in the last three years the number of lyrica scripts he's filled has more than doubled we went from just over 6 000 prescriptions in total across all the strengths across all our stores to just over 13 000 anyone on a health care card or a pension card can pick it up for you know six dollars mr kadari says he's well seasoned at spotting doctor shoppers they try to come up with lots of excuses sometimes they're sweating they're nervous they're a bit anxious sometimes what's your warning victoria is the only state which has mandatory monitoring for lyrica prescriptions there's no way for us to really monitor exactly if they're getting prescriptions elsewhere in certain instances it would really help us a lot and doctors too we as a medical community but also the broader community didn't think it was addictive didn't think it was that dangerous we now get taught that if you give someone a lyrica almost expect them to take double the amount you've given them when does lyrica become so much of a problem that you that the regulators will step in at what point does it have to get to well i think we're getting pretty close to it now and you know we see from the response here that i think we're very close to it where does this end i can't see light at the end of the tunnel i really can't be careful just be careful [Music] brave people for talking and if you or someone you know needs help there's support available contact lifeline the number is on your screen now 13114 that's 131114 you * NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA * MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: (6 year taper) 0mg Pristiq on 13th November 2021 ADs since ~1992: 25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq: 50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity) Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021 LAST DOSE 0.0025mg Post 0 updates start here My tapering program My Intro (goes to tapering graph) VIDEO: Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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